Posts tagged ‘Rachel Held Evans’

Rob Bell is going to be able to sleep tonight, because finally, drama and controversy has sparked elsewhere in modern Christianity.

Macho pastor Mark Driscoll gets a wedgie from a 100 pound girl.

Of course I don’t mean this literally, and I know better to never guess a woman’s weight…but the mental picture gives me a chuckle, so I’m keeping the metaphor.

Here’s the story: Mark Driscoll, posted something inappropriate on his Twitter. Big surprise, right? Well, this time, he struck a nerve with someone who actually gets more than 20 people reading his or her blog.

(Many humble thanks to my 20 fans out there.)

Queue Rachel Held Evans to the scene. She’s a fellow blogger/writer – only she’s about 1,000 times more successful than Fourfingerculture. I’d be jealous of this fact if she wasn’t freaking amazing. I’ve been a fan of hers for a few months now and she’s never disappointed me. So Rachel blogged a response to Driscoll’s beef-headed comment that, in my opinion, was absolutely brilliant. The bully gets a wedgie.

But like any good drama that’s discussed over the internet, people on both sides of the spectrum got and are still getting a little too passionate. Rachel’s blog is less than 24 hours old and I’ve already seen numerous Facebook conversations about it. Because I’m such a phlegmatic person, I get a little squeamish when Christians take arms with each other. I’m still hiding under a rock due to the whole Love Wins “controversy”. But there are some good points that both sides seem to be making, so I have to write about them.

Let me begin by saying this: Rachel’s blog was spot on. Too many times Mark Driscoll has harmed Christianity with his antics. You don’t need a theology degree to see that some of the things he says and does are simply wrong. And even if you’re a Driscoll fan, you have to admit that he has a really strange passion for picking on guys that aren’t of the lumberjack persuasion.

I’m trying to be objective here but I have to assume that I’m a bit biased. I’m one of those guys that Mark Driscoll loves to hate. I’m kind of a chick. I love art and music. I write poetry and songs. I love children. I cried like a baby while watching “August Rush”. But I’m also very much a dude. I love risk-taking. I like beer and action flicks, and things that go “boom”. And I’m fairly confident that if Driscoll and I were to put on boxing gloves, I’d drop him like a bad habit in the third round. So ultimately Mark Driscoll doesn’t personally offend me and I can say with objectivity that he needs to be accountable for his words and grow the heck up.

But I’ve also been reading the opinions of those who are for Mark Driscoll and against Rachel Evans. While I think most of these opinions are incredibly misguided, they’ve been making me think. And as much as it pains me to say this, if you take Mark Driscoll and strip away his misogyny and bully tactics, there’s a little tiny kernel of truth that he carries that is worth mentioning.

Our culture has somewhat emasculated the man.

Turn on the TV and you’ll find a mass of sitcoms and commercials where men are portrayed as ignorant buffoons that only care about the basic necessities of food and sex and that are scared to death to do anything outside of their wives’ expressed, written consent. These men always get portrayed as being completely clueless to their wives’ needs and continuously drop the ball at being good fathers. But at least they’re good at swinging a hammer and catching a football.

We live in a society where the jock is always dumb and the guy who works with his hands is always devoid of emotions.

This stereotype goes beyond society. It’s landed in our churches. I’ve seen countless of times where macho men get somewhat of a bad rap at church because many of them are more stoic during worship and dry-eyed during prayer time. I’ve seen macho men on the outskirts of church fellowship because they have a hard time relating to more touchy-feely times of discussion. But if you want someone to hang dry wall, help with a prison ministry, or to grab a young punk by the scruff of the neck and give some much needed tough love, that’s often where the macho man shines.

So I’m glad that Mark Driscoll is putting some gristle back in the church…but only a small part – like 10%. The 90% that is Driscoll’s bullying should go away.

Because the truth is, It doesn’t matter if you drive a motorcycle, can bench 400 pounds, or if you read Tolstoy or have gotten teary eyed at a commercial (don’t judge me) – these things don’t define you as a man. A real man has valor. A real man is faithful. A real man has integrity and honesty. A real man loves his family and takes care of them self-sacrificially.

Real men don’t hide who they are and don’t ridicule other men for not being like them.

If you’re looking for what a real man looks like, look no further than Jesus. He is both a lion and a lamb. He was a manly carpenter and still found the time to hold some unhindered kids. He said things like “blessed are the meek” but went commando on the money changers in the temple.